The Crow Girl

I watched 2 episodes and that was enough for me. It moves at glacial speed and isn't focused. Like an American police drama you get a lot of family drama thrown in which is distracting and worthless plus a demanding boss. I really don't care about DCI Kilburn's home situation. Why is a detective inspector the bagman for a detective chief inspector, normally a DCI has a sergeant. It's what I always enjoyed about the series "Vera", she rarely brought in any family stuff and her bosses let her do her job.

This is from a novel by Erik Axl Sund which is the pen name of two Swedish writers. Some Scandinavian novels should be dramatized like "The Killing" and "The Bridge", but I would have left "The Crow Girl" on the shelf.

Nice that it's set in Bristol and not London. I hated Dougray Scott in "Crime", but he's good in this series. I liked Eve Myles in "Torchwood".

I liked it until the final episode where the policewoman (who until then seemed like a fine detective) turns into a complete idiot. She first totally screws up the arrest of a not so kosher colleague. Then she needs to be looking for someone she thinks is a killer but instead goes to the shrink involved to drink her personal' sorrows away. Very unprofessional. She must also know that more people are at risk of being targeted by the killer, but she doesn't really seem to care. I'm sure that the actress must have been very disappointed when she read the last episode of the script but by then it was probably too late to get out of it.

I'm ok with a slow burn start as the characters aee introduced and the initial mystery is laid out . I'm ok with twists and turns as characters react to events and reveal their strengths, weaknesses and secrets.

I'm not ok with characters who do stupid things for plot reasons, especially in the last episode, which is an absolute mess and undermines much of the work done getting us there.

The Big reveal is largely telegraphed, but is one of the few things that makes any sense.

And of course the dreaded To Be Continued appeared as the screen faded to black.

I wont be holding my breath for season 2.

I truly do not want to give anything away here. Others have criticised The Crow Girl for having too many plot lines that don't all get wrapped up... but that is what season 2 is for? Weird thing to pick apart really, since this is not a standalone movie.

The first 2-3 episodes are a quite slow and challenging to watch, but it's all worth it for the plot twist towards the end. Usually I see things coming from a mile away but not this one. It's extraordinarily well done whilst at the same time you'll be kicking yourself for not figuring it out in the first place.

In other news: Eve Myles is bloody brilliant in this. Great actor.

I think this is really another great, British detective series. Yes, some of it we have certainly seen several times before (the police officer with a troubled personal life, conflicts with the boss etc etc....). But I still think this one ranks among the best in the category.....the acting is absolutely top class from all actors, the story develops in a suspenseful way and for the final twist.....I really don't understand all the negative comments on that? Personally I had never seen it coming? My only concern is that I can see a season 2 is already planned, and I'm afraid that one will just be "milking" the story rather than adding something really new (as the plot is already to some extend wrapped up now I'd say)......but we will of course have to wait and see about that...:-)